Safety hitching device.



L. J. BENJAMIN.

, SAFETY HITCHING DEVIB. APPLIoATIoN FILED MAILS. 1909.

Patented Sept.21, 1909.

Fd wd UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

LEWIS J. BENJAMIN, OF CLIO, MICHIGAN.

SAFETY HITCHING DEVICE.

Application filed March 3, 1909.

To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that I, LEwIs J. BENJAMIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Clio, in the county of Genesee and State of Michi gan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvementsv in Safety HitehingDevices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to hitching appliances, and more particularly toa fastening means for neck yokes, and has for its object to provide sucha device which will prevent the disengagement of a neck yoke from awagon tongue accidentally.

A further obj ect is to provide a means for retaining draft animalshitched to a vehicle in the event that the whiflletree should break.

Another obj ect is to provide such a device which tends to be forcedinto operation under strain incident to service.

Another object is to provide a locking means for holding a neck yokeengaged with a wagon tongue which may be readily operated. j i

A further aim of the invention is to provide such a device which may bemanufactured at a low cost, and which may be incorporated upon vehiclesalready in use.

Other objects and advantages will be ap parent from the followingdescription and it will be understood that changes in the specificstructure shown and described may be made within the scope of the claimswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawingsforming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a side view of the device, in engaged position, Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional view of the device in disengaged position, Fig. 3is a cross sectional view of the device in engaged position.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a wagon tongue 10 of theusual construction engaged upon which there is a bifurcated sleeve 11carrying at its forward end a retaining portion 12, having alongitudinally extending rectangular passage 13 therein, the inner endof which is extended downwardly and opens through the lower face of themember 12 as shown at 14. Spaced longitudinally of the passage 13, thereare transversely extending pins 15 for a purpose to be subsequentlyindicated. At the forward end of the passage 13, there are formedlongitudinally extending inwardly flared slots 16 registering with eachother Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1909.

serial No; 481,033.

disposed at opposite sides of the member 12 and opening upon the outerend of the portion 12.

Formed in the lower side of the portion 12, there is a longitudinallyextending recess 17 opening at the forward end of the portion 12, for apurpose to be subsequently indicated. Engaged within the passage 13 forlongitudinal sliding movement, there is a locking member 2O having acircular head portion 21 the periphery of which is adapted to lie flushwith the periphery of the portion 12. The member 20 is held againstlateral movement in the passage 13, but is adapted for vertical movementtherein at times.

The inner end of the member 20 is provided with a downwardly projectingoperating extension 22 adapted to extend through the portion 14 of thepassage 13 to lie flush with the adjacent face of the portion 12.Centrally of each end portion, the member 2O is provided withlongitudinally spaced oppositely disposed L-shaped slots 24, comprisingmajor longitudinally extending portions having at their inner endsupward extensions; these slots being engaged over the pins 15, so thatwhen one of the pins 15 is in the upward extension of one slot, theoppo` site pin will lie at the outer extremity of the longitudinalportion of the respective slot. The head 21 projects laterally outwardof the member 2() at all points as shown. At its lower side, the member20 carries a downwardly offset tongue 26 forming a ring-receivingpassage 27 which at its inner end is extended diagonally upward as shownat 28, and adapted to extend across the slots 16 at times.

It will be seen that when the member 20 is at the outer limit of itsmovement, the inner pin 15 will be disposed at the outer end of theadjacent slot 24, the inner end of the member 20 thus being raised todisengage the portion 22 from the extension 14 of the passage 13. Theouter pin 15 will be engaged in the upward extension of the adjacentslot 24, thus allowing the outer end of the member 20 to dropdownwardly, disposing the tongue 26 outwardly of the recess 17. The ringof a neck-yoke may then be engaged slidably beneath the tongue 26, andmoved forwardly into the upward extension 28, when backward and upwardpressure there` on will move the member 20 inwardly, disposing the ringin the slots 16, and allowing the inner end of the member 20 to falldownwardly, the inner pin l5 engaging in the upper extension ot' theadjacent slot 24k, and the operating portion 22 falling into the opening14, locking the device.

To disengage a neck-yoke from the device,

' it is only necessary to press upwardly on the Vattached animals, andretaining the vehicle under control to a certain extent.

l hat is claimed is:

l. A connection of the class described, comprising a base member havinga central passage therein, a slidable member engaged therein, the basemember having opposed registering slots opening from one end, theslidable member having a transverse slottherein adapted to intersect therst named slots when at the inner limit of its .movement the slidablemember being adapted to receive a portion of harness therein while atthe outer limit of its movement to be coengaged with the transverse slotand the first named slots at their intersection when the slidable memberis at the inner limit of its movement, and means for limiting thesliding movement of the slidable member and retaining it againstdisengagement from the base member. Y

2. A connection of the class described, comprising a sleeve memberhaving a lateral opening therein and having registering lonlvgitudinally extending slots opening upon one end, a slidable memberengaged in the sleeve and having a transverse extension .adapted toengage in the opening in the sleeve, said slidable member beingtransversely reciprocable in one direction, said slidable member havinga transverse slot therein opening outwardly of the sleeve when theslidable member is at the outer limit of its movement, and adapted tointersect the registering slots when the slidable member is at the innerlimit of its movement, and means for retaining the slidable member atthe inner limit of its movement.

3, An article of the class described comprising a base portion having alongitudinal passage opening through one end, said passage having a'lateral extension opening through the base member, said member havinglongitudinally extending registering slots on opposite sides openingupon the end of the base portion adjacent the outer end of the passage,a longitudinally slidable .inember engaged in the passage and providedwith a lateral extension at the inner end adapted to `engage through theopening in the base member' at times, said slidable member beingtransversely reciprocable in a plane through the axis of said extension,and

having a transverse slot spaced from itsv outer end and adapted tointersect the tirst named slots when at the inner limit of its movement,one of said members having longitudinally spaced L-shaped slotscomprising longitudinally `extending portions having lateral extensionsat their adjacent ends, the other of the members carrying means forengaging slidably in the slots to retain the slidable member againsttransverse movement atopposite ends alternately, to retain a harnessconnection in coengagement with the intersecting slots Vat times, and atothers to allow disengagement thereof.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS J. BENJAMIN.

Vitnesses MICHAEL C. DOYLE, ELIJAI-I EAGAN, Jr.

